


Snowflakes in Her Hair

by ShineFromTheShadows



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2018-09-25 03:04:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9800075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShineFromTheShadows/pseuds/ShineFromTheShadows
Summary: For the RWBY Victoria "Fanart Friday" focusing on Team RWBYFour little one-shot stories focusing on the four main girls between volumes 3 and 4, with a motif of falling snow.





	1. Red Like Roses

“Ooh! It’s all so pretty tonight!” Nora cheered, the slow-settling snow falling down past her face. Quickly; the hyperactive girl stuck her tongue out, trying to catch snowflakes in her mouth. Quietly, her dark-haired companion shook his head, keeping a watchful eye out for any issues as they pulled ahead from the other members of their team.

            “Nora, we really should focus on setting up the camp,” he remarked dryly. “Jaune and Ruby will focus on setting up the campsite; but you and I have to gather wood for the fire.”

            “Sure thing, Ren!” the girl cheered, a broad grin across her face as she started to shovel snow away from the base of trees. Her long-suffering friend snuck a final look over his shoulder to the campsite itself; but finally settled into trudging after the energetic young woman, leaving the team’s leader and strategist alone.

 

“So… ever done anything like this before, Jaune?” Ruby asked. The clearing they’d found wasn’t one of the normal camp sites outside Vale; of course. All the normal campsites were full, had been since the fall of Beacon. But it was good enough. There was no sign of any Grimm around, a fresh source of water – even if it was freezing over with the falling snow. Plus… she’d admitted it to Jaune. All the other camps would be watched. Huntsmen and huntresses would already know she’d run away from Patch.

            “What, run away from home in the middle of winter to start a quest across the world? Not tell my parents I was leaving?” the young man retorted, his attention on arranging stones for the campfire. He lifted his head from the simple assignment to shoot the girl a questioning glance. She offered a soft giggle, but her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, just as she’d been since they’d left.

            “I meant go camping in the snow,” she whispered. “Not any of that.”

            “Oh.” Jaune slowed, lifted himself away from the task at hand, and found himself staring at his friend. She’d dug a small hole at the base of a tree to get the stones for his fire pit, but she was just sitting in the damp ground, hood down and staring off into space. He cleared his throat. “Well, I mean, I went once or twice with my family. Nothing recent.”

            “Yeah… we haven’t done it for years.” she replied, a faint smile on her face. “I remember watching Yang and Dad having big snowball fights with each other until she got angry and started fighting. I remember freezing my hands while making a snowman. And then I remember Mum coming and…” the small girl shivered faintly, snowflakes getting caught in her hair as she reminisced. “I remember her coming, carrying me over to the fire, and making me cocoa.” Ruby sniffled a little, sad. “It was great, and now… I don’t want to lose anybody else.” She shifted a little, and as the light of the moon caught her face, the lines of her tears seemed to shimmer. “Jaune, I… I’m sorry I couldn’t save her.”

 

The words were like a ticking time bomb. As soon as they left her mouth, the girl seemed to shiver and shrivel into her flowing red cape. His lips tightened, and he stood. She cowered a little more as he approached. Her eyes fluttered shut, fear hitting her hard and…

 

A different warmth reached around her shoulders, and her eyes flickered open once more.

            “It’s not your fault, Ruby. I don’t blame you.” Jaune’s voice was just as comforting as the hug he held her in, and for a moment; it almost reminded her of being comforted by Yang. “You tried! You did something I could never do. Even if she couldn’t come back…” his voice dropped into a whisper as he choked back a sob, “You did. Thanks to you, we know what happened. We know she went down fighting, saving the world.” Jaune pulled back and smiled as he slowly brushed snowflakes from her hair, then pulled her hood back up over her head. “C’mon. Let’s just finish setting up; then we’ll start on a snowman.”

 

It might not have been the same as having Yang by her side, but the young girl finally managed a true smile. He was a dork, sure. But he was a dork that looked out for his friends.

            “Alright… fine. But we better start soon, before Nora and Ren get back… then we can talk about our new team name.” Even as he tried to protest, the girl burst into petals and started straightening things up. Just because things felt bad, didn’t mean they had to stay that way.

The road to Mistral was going to be long, but she still had friends by her side. And that was how she liked it.


	2. Mirror Mirror

With slow, practiced movements, the girl set the table. Teapot in the middle, a teacup on each side, milk and sugar set ready in fancy holders. All made from the finest porcelain from Vacuo, the best her father could afford.

How she wished she could smash them. Her manicured fingers tightened around her teacup, ready to turn and hurl it at the nearby pillar of the small gazebo in the family gardens. All fine, chiselled Mistralian marble. Another one of her father’s ‘brilliant’ ideas, just like dragging her back out here to this waste of time. She could have stayed in Vale, but no, that man just wanted her under his thumb.

“You know, Weiss, the tea may be getting cold,” for a member of the Schnee family, the voice was warm and friendly, contrasting the light snowfall just beyond the open walls.

“Winter!” the young woman cheered, and couldn’t help but turn and bow before her elder sister. “I must say, I was not expecting to see you here!”

Her older sister chuckled, an equally content noise. “You set the table for two, did you not? Mother told me you would be out here, and I would rather spend time with you instead of…” she faltered as the rather unwelcome noise of shouting rang from the direction of their father’s office. “General Ironwood escorted me home.” she offered curtly, “He has business with our father.”

Weiss simply offered her older sister a smile, and gestured towards the tea. “As you said, the tea may be getting cold. We can discuss matters further while we drink.”

 

The two sisters remained poised as a fresh plate of thin chocolate slices was set before them by a whistling Klein, but the mood turned sombre shortly after.

            “I am sorry... about the fall of Beacon.” Winter offered hesitantly, her cup of tea coming to rest once more on the top of the table as she sighed and her eyes flickered to the sight of falling snow. “It was a true shame to lose Ozpin.”

            “If you’d been there, Winter, maybe things would have been different,” the younger Schnee put forward. “You’re a lot more skilled than I am. Perhaps you would have made a difference.”

            Winter’s head snapped to attention, and she glared at her sister. “It is not like a Schnee to lower one’s own stature, Weiss. How would Grandfather feel to hear you do such?” As her sister slumped, the Atlesian Specialist continued. “In fact, I doubt that I would have made much difference at all; however General Ironwood informed me you fought well.” Her face softened a little, and she slipped her scroll from a pocket. “However, he did manage to retrieve some interesting footage from the battlefield you may wish to see.”

With a curious glint in her eye, Weiss looked up to gaze at her sister’s scroll. On the small screen, she watched a giant white blade cleave through a second-generation Paladin, and a small form beneath it directing its motions with a rapier. Her cheeks flushed pink as she stared, transfixed at her own battle to defend her friends. Then, from nowhere, the video simply cut out, the blade still hovering above her shoulders. Winter shook her head.

            “Unfortunately, that was all the footage they were able to salvage. The Knight shut itself down due to the command ship’s destruction, unfortunately.” Weiss’s ears perked faintly at the sound of a wistful sigh - but there was the familiar undertone of pride in her sister’s words. “You managed to achieve a partial summon! And you did so to protect your friends.”

            “I didn’t manage to, though. Yang still lost her arm… and Pyrrha…” the younger sister stammered and averted her gaze to hide the familiar sting of unshed tears; but Winter gave a quick wave of dismissal.

            “You did everything that you could do, Weiss. We will always have regrets about our actions when things do not go to plan, but personal strength is not always measured through victory.” Winter smiled tentatively, and slowly pushed herself away from the table. “It is sometimes shown through how well you come to grips with defeat.” Weiss forced herself to straighten her back, and looked up to meet her elder sister’s watchful gaze. She closed her eyes and took a slow breath, the last remnants of her emotional outburst expelled with it.

            “Winter, would you, um, be able to train me a little more?” Weiss asked hesitantly, and stammered, “I want to refine my abilities to summon when I want, no, when I need to; not just in the heat of the moment.”

            Winter pursed her lips for a moment. “Perhaps another time, dear sister,” she began, and Weiss felt a familiar weight drop into her stomach. She opened her mouth, ready to protest, but her elder sister’s glare kept the words from leaving her mouth.

            “But… why?” Even for a girl versed in etiquette, it was hard to keep the frustration from her voice, and she could see the tiniest hints of a smile brush into Winter’s stern look. 

            “I don’t believe Father would appreciate us practicing summoning on such beautiful stonework or in his pristine gardens. It would be a shame if anything happened to such expensive things.” She brought her hand up and touched it to her forehead in a dramatic flourish as she stood, but as her warm grin returned to her face; Weiss couldn’t help but stifle a laugh.

Content, Winter left her sister to chuckle for a moment, but her face grew sombre once more. “But, dear sister, you need to listen to me.” She stepped around the table, and took her sister’s hand into her own. “This is a great power you hold, even if our family shares it. With it will come great challenges, ones that I cannot be by your side to face. This world will recognize your strength, but when you need to call upon it, you cannot waver. You cannot hold back. Harden your resolve, and maybe then you will finally understand this gift.”

            Weiss pushed her chair back and rose with a bowed head as she mulled over her sister’s words, even as Winter left a gentle kiss on the top of her younger sister’s head and slipped away into the snowy afternoon without even a goodbye. The heiress released a shuddering sigh. Her hands balled into fists as she tensed and bit back the urge to scream about how unfair it all was, to act like the spoilt brat her teammates once mistook her for.

            She simply stood there for a few moments and fumed, but her mood cooled with the snowy breeze. The gardens were quiet. She hadn’t quite noticed that before. Tranquil, even. With a final, longing glance, she turned her eyes to the sky with a faint smile. Perhaps Winter was right. She couldn’t back down from this. Maybe, with some determination, everything would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a lot longer than I thought, but I hope you all enjoy it. 
> 
> I'd like to thank one of my friends for his hard work on this chapter. Originally, I'd planned to get this up a day or two after Ruby's, but I I just couldn't quite find the ending. So I turned to my friends and asked for help. Sure enough, he not only proofread and edited the piece for me, he suggested an ending that I then shaped and formatted to suit. As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts, and feel free to follow if you're ready for Blake's turn in the spotlight.


	3. From Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake's journey between Vale and Menagerie has its own twists and turns.

Blake hated the snow.

           The more she thought about it, the more irritated she grew. It was cold; wet, and all it did was leave a trail of footprints - a trail leading back to the events she couldn’t outrun.

           She felt the familiar grinding of her teeth as her jaw clenched. Her aching legs throbbed in the frozen air. And yet she trudged onwards through the frozen woodlands, accompanied only by the silence of the winter’s evening.

           Bitter thoughts ran through her mind, as biting as the cold winds that blew through the bleak forest before her. She still persevered. She had a schedule to keep.

           Her eyes began to flick from point to point, alert for sudden movement. Her sensitive Faunus ears flicked and twisted beneath the bow on her head.  Her muscles tensed. Behind every tree, there could be a creature of Grimm. There could be a soldier of the White Fang. There could be an enemy.

           She hadn’t been this exhausted since before the Vytal Festival, before the dance. Her hands tightened into fists. The others should have listened to her back then. She didn’t want to think about what happened since. She just wanted to escape, wanted to go somewhere safe.

           She just wanted to go home.

           The wind blew whispers into her ears, echoes - reminders of the places she’d left behind; remnants that she really did not wish to think about. A shudder shot through her back, the thick snow on the ground serving to slow her to a walk. She clenched her teeth and pushed forwards. Every shadow was a threat. Every hint of movement was danger.

 

_You… abandoned us…_

 

           Blake suddenly stopped. She could have sworn somebody – or something – had spoken to her. Instantly, she reached for Gambol Shroud, her weapon still attached to her back. With a clumsy grasp, she pulled it free and dropped her travel pack onto the ground.

           “Show yourself,” she commanded, unable to hide the nervous quiver in her voice. She wasn’t sure if the shaking in her knees was fear or just the cold. Her eyes darted from tree to tree, and she slowly began to turn in a circle, keeping her eyes open for the source of the voice.

 

_You abandoned your people._

 

           Blake flicked herself around, her sword flying straight for the man that emerged from her peripheral vision. He seemed to shift backwards, faster than she could strike. As if playing with her. A cocky smile crossed his face, and he spread his hands.

_You abandoned us, Blake. Come back, my love._ A scream ripped from the faunus girl’s throat, and she lunged forwards, slashing straight through Adam’s chest. With that, he vanished like vapor. A soft chuckle touched her ears.

 

_Abandoned us…_

           Again, the voice spoke from behind her, as if tethered to the footprints she’d left in the snow. She spun and slashed, but no Adam stood there.

           “No…” she gasped, her eyes fixed upon the woman before her.

           Blake could barely breathe as she stammered at the figure before her “No… I didn’t… I couldn’t have... I’m sorry…” With fury in her eyes, the figure stared back, and gestured with her one remaining arm; the other stub wrapped in bloodied bandages, the voice identical to the one she heard from Adam.

_You abandoned us, Blake. Your friends. You might as well just keep running, because we don’t want you back._ Yang’s voice was as frozen as the wind and struck just as deeply, even as her eyes burned with her rage and accusation. Blake staggered, the words driving an iron fist into her gut, and before her eyes her teammate seemed to vanish.

           “Yang! Come back! Please!” the girl screamed desperately. “I can explain!”

 

_Abandoned us…_

 

           She couldn’t hold the tears back as the voice uttered those words from over her shoulder. She couldn’t bear to see who it was, but like a trance, she turned once more.

           There stood a faunus woman her height, the lines of age worn into her face. Her clothing was just as light as the girl before her, yet she showed no signs that she felt the chill. Her face was simply filled with anguish, even as the voice berated her.

_Blake, you abandoned your family. You ran away from home to join Adam_. The apparition seemed to shimmer a little as Blake reached forward, trying to reach out to her mother. _Come home, sweetheart. We miss our kitten._

           Blake’s eyes stung from the frozen tears. The ache in her legs was too much to bear. She fell forwards into the snow and curled herself into a ball, trying to fight the cold. With faint, broken breaths, her sobs faded into soft snores as the huntress girl drifted off into sleep.

 

           Sunlight slowly bathed the young woman’s face. Blake’s eyes fluttered open, only for her to flinch in surprise. She could have sworn she’d collapsed in the middle of a clearing, yet she was lying at the foot of a tree, the long white jacket she’d collected from the ruins of Vale draped over her body like a blanket.

           With aching muscles, she dragged herself to her feet and slowly pulled the jacket on. Her eyes scanned the trees, but the presence was gone. No footprints lay on the ground around her. All she saw was the brown of the trees and white of the snow. She could feel the tension flowing out and away in the silent peace of the morning.  

           “Thanks mum,” she murmured up into the forest canopy, and started to slowly trudge back over to her bag. She still had a long journey ahead, but at least she had somewhere in mind. Home was waiting for her.

 

* * *

 

From its vantage point over her little camp, the figure in its brown cloak watched, satisfied she would be safe for at least another night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well; that took longer than expected. Volume 5 is almost upon us; and I haven't even finished these oneshots between 3 and 4. Oh well; I'll get Yang's done when I get it done. 
> 
> Thanks again to the proof reader for this chapter, same guy helped me with Weiss; and it shows. And as always, I hope you enjoy.


End file.
